Thousands Of Bees Find Home In Portsmouth Market Square
PORTSMOUTH, NH (CBS) - On Monday, Market Square filled with tens of thousands of bees, and some were still there on Wednesday.
"There's quite a few swarming around!" Zoe Karens said.
The bees first descended Monday, with witnesses saying at least 30,000 bees swarmed Market Square that day.
"I didn't even know they were bees at first because they were yellow and that's all I could see," said Janet Desmond, who works in the square.
Desmond went on to say, it's definitely not what you'd usually see in Market Square.
People at the square were left wondering why the bees were there.
"We just thought they were coming to hang out," Jeremy Perschy said.
"There were honey bees everywhere and I'm allergic to regular ones," Cynthia Gagnon said.
Despite the confusion, the people that WBZ's Lisa Gresci spoke with said they were more entertained than scared. "We were standing in the middle of the swarm they were landing on us not bothering us at all," Perschy said.
It was particularly exciting for local beekeeper Peter Labrie. "When you're in a hive, suited up...you've got 30, 40, 50 thousand bees swarming around you, it gets you're heart rate up.
Labrie says bee keeping is one of his favorite hobbies. "It was exciting as a beekeeper, not to sound funny but it's free bees!" he said.
Labrie believes the bees left their hive because it was either damaged or overcrowded, but now they have a new home with Labrie and another local beekeeper. Labrie has even been back to get the rest.
"I'll check on them in two, three days, and make sure they are settling in," he said.
While people in Market Square don't necessarily miss the bees, they are happy they are safe.